Four held over trying to snatch arrested AL leaders, activist from custody

Police arrested four people in Saturia upazila of Manikganj last night for allegedly attempting to snatch four local AL men who are accused in an anti-terrorism case.

Md Shahinul Islam, officer-in-charge of Saturia Police Station, said that yesterday afternoon, police arrested four leaders and activists of local AL and its associate organisations who are accused in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act with the Saturia Police Station.

They are Saturia upazila AL Organising Secretary Md Mosharraf Hossain alias Baka, 56, upazila Jubo League General Secretary Md Abdul Khalek, 45, Saturia Union's ward no 8 AL President Md Helal Uddin, 54, and Golam Rabbi, 26, an activist of the upazila unit of the banned Bangladesh Chhatra League.

The OC also said that after their arrest, relatives of the accused gathered at the police station premises yesterday evening, causing a tense situation and blocking traffic in the area.

At one stage around 7:30pm, police took the accused to a prison van to transfer them to Sadar Police Station. At that time, their families and relatives tried to snatch the accused.

Police then arrested Golam Rabbi's father Asar Uddin, 50, mother Rozina Begum, 45, his seventeen-year-old brother and Rabbi's wife Azrin Akhter, 19, from the spot for attempting to stanch the accused. All four are also involved in AL activists, said police.

Later, police filed a case with the police station accusing the four and 30 to 40 unknown people of Uttar Kaunnara village of the upazila on charges of attempting to snatch the arrested accused and obstructing government work.

The OC said all eight accused were sent to jail by a court this afternoon.